Background
DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (DCVLP) provides pro bono representation to approximately 2,000 clients annually. Their work is critical to domestic violence survivors, at-risk children, and vulnerable immigrants living in the DC metro area. In order to maximize their impact, the organization employs a unique model of staff attorneys paired with pro bono volunteers.
Challenge
Managing a large volume of pro bono matters and volunteers is no easy task. In 2021, DCVLP started using Paladin in a limited capacity to see how the platform could help streamline the process of recruiting volunteers and allowing them to sign up for opportunities.
Now, the organization has been able to increase the efficiency of their volunteer recruitment and sign-up processes. This was extremely helpful over the past two years, while DCVLP experienced significant growth and was able to start new pro bono programs. Two in-person clinics increased to five; and with more staff and more volunteers participating than ever before, the organization is able to serve more clients in need.
“We started out just posting clinics, and over time we’ve migrated all of our volunteer signups to take place through Paladin.”Sara Jamison Director of Volunteer Engagement and Strategic Partnerships, DCVLP
Solution and Results
DCVLP has great success staffing their clinics via Paladin, including managing volunteer availability and placement for their civil protection order (CPO) cases. For efficiency, volunteers sign up for a CPO hearing slot weeks or months in advance, and are then matched with a client who has a hearing scheduled on that date. Prior to using Paladin, scheduling and assigning cases happened on two separate platforms – now DCVLP is able to manage all aspects of the workflow from one centralized platform.
Check out this additional story on DCVLP as part of Paladin’s Pro Bono Spotlights!